Alumni/ae update

Two years ago I was elected to serve on the Alumnni/ae Association
Executive Council. In the course of being one of three candidates standing
for election, I made a few promises to those whose vote I was seeking. One
of those pledges was a commitment to strengthen the connection between the
Seminary and its graduates. In reflecting on my experience thus far on the
council, it occurs to me that this task is one that still dominates my
sense of call to service on this council.

It is a source of tremendous encouragement to come to this campus on a
regular basis and see all the things the Seminary is accomplishing with
excellence. The student body is strong, the facilities are experiencing
critically important renovation, and new faculty additions are ensuring
the future academic leadership of the Seminary. A living symbol of this
vitality is the ongoing restoration of Miller Chapel, the spiritual center
of the community, which declares the service of this institution to the
church of Jesus Christ. The manner in which we can best communicate a
sense of this vibrancy to our alumni/ae, as well as provide important
resources for their benefit, is a top priority for the council.

Under the gifted leadership of advisor Dean Foose and chair Joanne
Martindale, the council will be exploring ways in which the Seminary can
be more closely related to its graduates this coming year. One item we
have been discussing is the use of the Internet and web-based technology.
The Seminary web site (www.ptsem.edu) is a natural tool for us to use in
providing resources and information for our alumni/ae, and we are
exploring options for its development and augmentation.

If you have any ideas or suggestions regarding how PTS might best use
its web site to communicate with and support its alumni/ae, we would love
to hear from you. What kind of information and resources would you like to
see the Seminary provide its alumni/ae? How can this tool be best used to
strengthen the connection between PTS and its alumni/ae? What models have
you seen to which we should attend in addressing this issue? If you have
any input, please contact me by email at peter@lopc.org. Thank you for
your continued interest in, and support of, Princeton Seminary!

The Rev. Peter Whitelock is pastor of Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian
Church in Lafayette, California. He represents Region 11 of the Alumni/ae
Association, which includes Arizona, Hawaii, and southern California.

Princeton rises above
the coastal plains
of New Jersey
like a medieval fortress town
transplanted from Europe,
out of place in its setting:
impressive on first sight;
quaint colonial history;
revolutionary war battlefield;
gothic spired university;
Georgian/Victorian seminary
(my abode long ago,
recently returned Viet vet
studying alongside
draft-dodging divinity students);
Institute for Advanced Study
down the street
Einstein once walked
deep in profound thought,
with a burning pipe
in his jacket pocket
(so they say).

Home of:
world-class scholars,
some saints and/or geniuses,
but mostly
less-than-perfect people;
undergraduate students,
once big fish in little ponds
now floundering and gasping for air;
and graduate students,
perhaps amazed as I,

from a minor-league
school,
making it to the Ivy League
awed by the fancy footwork
of academic all-stars.
I went away to try on
the robe and role of a cleric
finally withdrawing
in a classical calling crisis
feeling failure for not finishing.

Twenty years hence I returned:
first for reunion;
next year a seminar
on spiritual life
not taught in my student days.
I saw again the allure
of an academic oasis
nourishing parched minds;
also a new nurturing
of the Spirits flame,
kept aglow through centuries
of dark nights of the soul.

My spiritual director Diogenes,
in name and fact
a philosopher,
taught timeless lessons
from the classics,
including catholic mystics.
He may eventually retire,
but such wisdom
is never retired,
as it is passed on
to each generation
in the hallowed halls
of Princeton.